Blessings
by laurzz
Summary: DannyLindsay plus Lucy and Messer family kiddos! Post season 9. “She knew she was blessed with the children she and Danny had. Three beautiful, perfect blessings. “


**A/N: so, hi. I'm Laura and apparently I cannot stay away from this little mini messer universe Fred has created. In my little fluffy brain this is legit life for the Messers and I won't be told otherwise.**

**Anyway, enough of my usual rambles. Here's the latest instalment. Very Lindsay and Lucy centric. It is very much a sequel? Let's say sequel... to the previous two stories I posted (Cop cat and When you love someone) So may be worth reading those first if you haven't, so that things make sense. **

**Hope you guys enjoy! **

**————————-**

_In my daughter's eyes I am a hero. I am strong and wise and I know no fear, but the truth is plain to see, she was sent to rescue me._

_\- In My Daughters Eyes, Martina McBride_

_——————————_

Hearing the sounds of her daughter's giggles from behind the closing door, Lindsay felt a resounding thump in the bottom of her stomach. Her little girl was officially having her first slumber party without a family member. She'd stayed over at Danny's parents' a thousand times but with her very own room – Danny's old room to be exact. It was essentially Lydia's home away from home. Plus, when she had been there, Lucy and Ben had always been with her too.

Staying at a friend's house for a slumber party was something entirely different. She'd made friends with a little girl on her very first day of school named Taylor. When Lydia had come home full of tales about this little girl, they both knew that Lydia had found herself a best friend. Lindsay and Danny had yet to go a day without a Taylor tale, as they'd affectionately dubbed them. When Taylor's mother had called a few weeks ago asking if Lydia could stay the night for a slumber party, Lindsay had had a mini internal breakdown – was her smallest baby girl officially growing up? She'd had to halt the breakdown quickly to agree to the slumber party, with one condition that Taylor's mom promised that she'd call if there were any problems.

As it turned out it was Taylor's sixth birthday and she'd requested Lydia spend the day with her family. They had a whole day planned, lunch at Taylor's favourite eatery, then they were all going to Build-a-Bear where they could each both get a bear and an outfit! Then they were going to watch a movie before heading home for cake, ice cream and games. Lydia had been excited for weeks and while it was lovely to see her daughter so excited over something… Lindsay felt lost. She felt like she was losing her little girl. Her little girl was going to be spending the next day and a half with another family doing what they, The Messers, usually did on birthdays. So far in her little life, more or less all of Lydia's experiences and memories included Lindsay and Danny, Lucy and Ben… but this, this meant that she was beginning her own memories with new people.

But just as Lindsay had dropped off Lydia's overnight bag and new sleeping bag they'd bought especially for Taylor's birthday, she'd realised it was time to let Lydia be her own person. She watched Lydia rush off to Taylor's mountain of presents, admiring the ribbons and paper that hid the gifts underneath. Lindsay watched as Lydia passed over the gift she'd picked out for Taylor and Taylor carefully put it at the top of her present pile, telling Lydia that she was going to open it first because 'it would be the bestest because it was from her'.

Lindsay had made small talk with Taylor's mom, her eyes always drifting to Lydia who was completely unaware of Lindsay's presence, as she followed Taylor around and excitedly giggled with her best friend.

Taylor's mom had put her hand on Lindsay's arm and smiled softly before reassuring Lindsay with the words she'd needed to hear. "She'll be fine. She's safe here, Lindsay. I promise."

She'd been absolutely right. Lydia would be fine. Lydia didn't care that she was about to spend a day and a half away from her mother because in reality that meant she was getting to spend a day and a half with Taylor.

Lindsay had smiled, given Taylor's mother all of their contact details (again) and thanked her for inviting Lydia. She'd called out goodbye to Lydia, who waved before turning back to her friend.

Lindsay had felt her chest constrict as she headed towards the door. Lydia was… growing up. She let Taylor's mother open the door, and just as she was about to cross the threshold and onto the driveway, she felt two little arms wrap themselves around her legs. She turned and saw Lydia pressing her face into Lindsay's shirt. They'd said one final goodbye to one another and Lindsay had pressed a longer-than-normal kiss to the crown of Lydia's head.

_Sure, she might be growing up,_ Lindsay had thought to herself as she headed towards her car, _but she'll always be my little girl._

———————

Glancing up from the breakfast bar from where they were eating their respective breakfasts, both remaining Messer children looked at each other as they heard the front door open. Ben smirked at his sister and Lucy wiggled her eyebrows in response.

"Here we go," Ben whispered.

"Hey Mom!" Lucy called out.

"Hi guys," Lindsay returned. They looked at each other and furrowed their brows.

"How'd it go?" Ben asked; bellowing through the house.

"Fine." Lindsay replied.

Lucy looked at Ben and shrugged. "Was Lydia okay when you left her?"

"She barely knew I'd gone." Lindsay answered from the hallway.

"_What the hell_?" Ben mouthed at his sister. She shrugged again.

"So uh, how was the uh, drive?" Ben shrugged.

"The _drive_?" They could hear the chuckle in her voice from the hallway. She popped her head into the kitchen and smirked at her children. "Go on… How much does she owe you?"

"Huh? What you talkin' about?" Ben asked, a blush washing over his cheeks.

Lindsay raised her eyebrows. "_Benjamin_…"

"What?" He laughed, holding his hands up in surrender. "What I do now?"

Lindsay cocked her head to the side before moving into the kitchen. She glanced down at her children's breakfasts and grabbed Lucy's half eaten bagel. She took a bite before putting it back down onto her daughter's plate and then moving to the fridge. "Come on, how much?"

"Mom, you're losin' it:.. I don't know what the hel-"

Lindsay's head appeared from inside the fridge, she looked over her shoulder and glared at her son."watch it…"

"-heck you're talkin' about." Ben finished.

Lindsay appeared from the fridge, her hands on her hips. "Are you seriously telling me that neither of you put a bet on whether or not I'd come home crying?"

Ben and Lucy shared a look between them and broke out into laughter.

"Damn it!" Ben smacked the bar. He sighed heavily before pushing the twenty dollar bill that had been hidden under his plate towards his sister. "Enjoy it, it's cursed."

"I will." She stuck her tongue out at her brother.

"So what was the bet?" Lindsay laughed as she moved towards the coffee machine.

"She bet me that you'd come home and ask us who won the bet." Ben laughed. "She bet that you'd bet that we'd make a bet... I swear to god you two are weirdly connected somehow." He shook his head. "I don't get it."

Lindsay wiggled her eyebrows and smirked over her shoulder at her children. "And what was your bet Ben, that I'd come home crying?" Lindsay laughed.

"No I bet you'd come home doing cartwheels because you could drive home and not answer a million questions for a change."

"You better give him that twenty back, Luce." Lindsay teased. "He's right."

"Oh please, you haven't done a cartwheel since high school." Lucy exclaimed. "This is mine, I'm keepin' it!"

Lindsay smiled as she filled three coffee cups up before taking two and handing them to her children. "Don't tell Daddy."

"Don't tell me what, Montana? That you're caffeinating our children _again_?"

"Busted." She smirked at her children. "Hey sleepyhead," Lindsay stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to her husband's cheek. "Surprised to see you awake. What time did you get home?"

"A little after three," he said, yawning. He took the cup from his son and began drinking. Ben rolled his eyes and Lindsay handed him her cup of coffee before getting another mug out of the cabinet and poured herself another cup. The whole exchange happened without a single word. It happened every time like clockwork. This was their Saturday routine when she and Danny were off at least... except usually, there would be some form of children's TV show blaring in the background as Lydia surfed through the offerings of Netflix. The quiet house was different. Almost like old times before the littlest Messer had come barrelling into their lives.

The four of them fell into a comfortable silence as they all settled around the breakfast bar. Lindsay had set to work making her and Danny some breakfast whilst Lucy and Ben finished the remainder of theirs. Danny devoured his cereal whilst Lindsay picked at the half bagel she'd toasted. She occasionally glanced at her phone, checking for messages from Taylor's mom.

After a couple of minutes, both Lucy and Ben looked up. "It's too quiet." They said in sync to one another.

"Now who's weirdly connected?" Lindsay teased.

"She drives me crazy but is it strange that it's not the same without her?" Ben asked.

"I kinda miss her." Lucy added.

"Nah, I hear ya." Danny nodded. "Little whirlwind that one. Makes me feel sorry for your Grandpa. Cause you guys _know_ that's _exactly_ how your Mom used to be, right? All the energy, _all_ the questions…"

"Well, Lydia definitely gets it from somewhere…" Lucy laughed. "And let's face it Dad, it's not you is it?"

"Alright, alright…" Lindsay interrupted the banter as she collected plates from the counter. "The dishwasher isn't going to load itself… let's go."

Lucy and Ben stood and made their way to the dishwasher. They began emptying out the clean dishes from the night before. "You know Mom, some kids get allowance for doin' stuff like this. You know, like _legit_ money..." Ben said. "Just a thought…"

"Yeah, you get allowance. We _allow_ you to live here. Get loadin' the dishwasher." Danny barked. "Smartass."

"Gee, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Lucy said, mainly to her brother.

"Oh yeah? How's that car of yours doing, Lucy? Huh? You enjoyin' it?" Danny cocked his head to the side, "you wouldn't want it to disappear now, would ya?"

"Sorry Daddy, I don't know what was I thinking… you're full of sunshine and rainbows this morning." She smirked as she moved towards him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "My mistake."

Danny shook his head, a smile plastered across his face. "Montana, your kids are outta control."

"My kids? Mine?" She barked. "Just because they look like me… their attitude is all you, Messer."

"Knew it'd come back to bite me on the ass."

"Danny!"

"Mom, that's not even a curse word!" Ben rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, she's always been to cute to curse. Had this problem for years son." Danny teased. "Ain't that right _Montana_?"

Lindsay ignored the antics of her husband and children and began wiping the counters; removing the evidence of their breakfast. "Whatever."

"She's mad now." Danny laughed. "You two better run before it's too late. Save yourselves."

Lucy and Ben glanced at each other. Lucy grabbed her twenty from the counter before they both took off towards the stairs.

"Tidy your rooms!" Lindsay called out. "Make your beds!" At the sounds of their slamming doors, Lindsay flinched. "Bring down your _laundry_…"

"They will," Danny said as he moved towards her. "they know the drill." He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You know I'm just yankin' your chain, right."

"I know," she smiled. "I'm used to it. After god only knows how long I should be... How long has it been?"

Danny thought for a moment. "Well Lucy is seventeen now."

"Don't." Lindsay cried. "I feel sick at the thought of that. How is she seventeen? I blinked and she grew up. I still remember tellin' you in the locker room about her like it was three hours ago."

"Jesus, I totally forgot it was in the locker room.. you had a thing for tellin' me at work... Lucy in the locker room, Ben in the break room." Danny sighed heavily. "God we were babies back then. Didn't have a damn clue."

Lindsay leant back against her husband's body, letting him take some of her weight. "I was so scared to tell you about her."

"I thought I was gonna pass out." Danny couldn't help but smile. "Look at us now though… what's it been? Twenty years since you started at the lab? Twenty years of you and me?"

Lindsay turned in his arms. "Shut the fuck up…. twenty years?! _Twenty?!"_

"Hey whoa… so much for bein' too cute to curse." Danny laughed. "You mind? You kiss me with that mouth."

"I do other things to you with it too." She winked at him as she tossed the dishcloth into the sink. "Twenty years?"

"I mean, we've been married for seventeen… but yeah, twenty years of I guess us being… us?"

"Here's to the next twenty." She said, standing on her tiptoes and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"To the next twenty," Danny nodded.

——————

"Here's your laundry." Lindsay said as she nudged her way through her daughter's bedroom door.

'Thanks Mommy," Lucy said. She was sat, hunched over her desk.

"Homework?" Lindsay asked, sitting on her daughter's bed. "Lucy, it's Saturday…"

""I know, I know." She said over her shoulder. "You know me. One of the Messer kids is gonna have to use the college fund... might as well be me."

"Come on, let's go do something. Just us."

"Really?" Lucy turned, her eyes bright. "Aren't you working today?"

"No, Mac moved some stuff around. He felt bad for calling me in last weekend." Lindsay paused. "Plus, I told him that Lydia had her first slumber party today and I think he knew what I'd be like. He probably remembers all too well how I was with your first slumber party."

Lucy laughed. "Mom, you're nothing but professional. I don't buy that for a minute."

"Come on, let's go do something fun."

"What about Daddy and Ben?"

"They went out to dinner last week. They can entertain themselves. We're long overdue a Lindsay and Lucy day."

"I'll get ready." Lucy said excitedly. "Meet you downstairs?"

"Meet you downstairs." Lindsay nodded.

——————

"What did he do next?"

"You know what he did." Lindsay rolled her eyes.

"I know, I know." Lucy sighed. "I just love the story."

Lindsay rolled her eyes again. "Honestly Lucy." She picked up her coffee and sipped it, absorbing the sight of her daughter. Her eyes were bright and playful. She flashed her crooked smile and Lindsay felt her resolve slipping. _That kid could get away with murder with that smile. _Relenting, she carried on. "So after he landed he found his way to the courthouse and stumbled in. He looked half asleep and had this goofy yet adorable '_here I am' _look on his face. He'd come on a hunch that i needed him and seconds before he walked in, I was about to give up. It was just too much. But with him there? It seemed easier. And just like that, I finished my testimony. They did the closing statements and we adjourned. Once we got called back in, he held my hand while they read the verdict… and then he had to endure meeting Grandpa.."

Lucy sighed. "I just can't believe he did that for you. I mean Mom… that's so romantic. To know you needed him like that? That's just-" she broke off and sighed dreamily. "I can't."

"It was cute." Lindsay agreed. "Earnt him some major brownie points because Lord knows he needed them eventually."

"Okay so now tell me about the time when he took a bullet for you…"

"Lucy." Lindsay sighed before taking a sip of her drink. "I shouldn't have told you all these things, should I?"

"But _Mommy_," her daughter whined "I love hearing these stories."

"Fine," Lindsay huffed. She placed her cup back on the table and licked her lips. "Okay so we'd all gone out to celebrate the life of one of our colleagues who'd… died."

"Uncle Flack's girlfriend?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Lucy nodded. "Did I ever meet her?"

Lindsay nodded. "Yeah, a couple of times. She was sweet. She bought you a couple of dresses that I used to love putting you in."

Lucy smiled.

"So, a car drives past and starts shooting the place up. Daddy instantly pulled me to the ground and threw himself on top, protecting me. We think as he moved towards me; that's when it hit him." Lindsay paused. "When I read the report, Uncle Mac had concluded that it was highly likely that had Daddy not got me down in the time he did, it would have been me. He saved me."

Lucy had her elbows pressed against the table; her hands propping her face up as she stared intently at her mother. "And then he couldn't feel his legs, right? Then you saw all his blood. And then you called out for uncle Mac?"

"Why am I telling you this? Were you there or something?" Lindsay laughed."You know everything better than I do anyway."

"I just… you _guys_." She implored.

"It wasn't always cutesy cute stuff. We had it rough for a while. Went though a big rocky patch before you were born. Me and your dad broke up for a while."

"Ruben." Lucy nodded

"What did you say?"

"Ruben… Ruben… Sandoval?" Lucy said.

"I'm gonna need more than that. How do you know about Ruben, Lucy?"

"I mean, I don't know what happened." Lucy began. "I saw the memorial thing. It was in a box of stuff when we moved. Daddy had asked me to take a box to the attic and I dropped it and loads of stuff came out. I saw it then and always wondered who he was." She paused for a moment, "is that why you and Daddy broke up?"

Lindsay sighed.

"You don't have to tell me," Lucy said. "I just…"

"Ruben lived on the same floor as Daddy. He was a sweet kid. Liked spending time with your dad. Daddy had a lot of time for him."

"Did he die?"

Lindsay nodded.

"How?"

"I'm sorry, that's a story you don't need to know about." Lindsay told her daughter. "Does Daddy know you know about him?"

Lucy shook her head. "No."

"Can we keep it that way?"

"Did you break up because of Ruben?"

"Lucy…" Lindsay warned her daughter. "I'll happily tell you most things… but you don't need to know about this stuff."

"So you did?""

Lindsay shook her head. "It's a really complicated story. One that we are not going to get into, okay?" Lindsay reached across the table and took hold of her daughter's hand. "It was a tragic accident and Daddy and I had to do a lot of growing up in the aftermath. Both separately and together." She rubbed her daughter's hand with her thumb. "That's all you're getting, okay?"

Lucy nodded. "Alright," She paused for a minute. "Have you always loved Daddy?"

"Honestly? I've loved him for a really long time. Even when it was hard, I still really loved him."

"Did you you always tease each other?" Lucy asked.

"We had our moments where we were serious." Lindsay nodded. "But our job is so heavy sometimes, having someone to make you smile makes things easier."

"I bet he drove you crazy."

"Oh he did." Lindsay laughed, relieved the conversation topic had taken a turn. "I used to get so mad with him. He'd _constantly_ be complaining about food. He was always so hungry and I'd 'never let him eat'!" Lindsay airquoted him. "God he was a pain in the ass when it came to food." Lindsay paused. "Although..."

"He still is." They'd said it together in perfect unison and both started laughing.

"Did you always eat together then?" Lucy asked. "I know you guys do now."

"Sometimes." Lindsay nodded. "Oh gosh, you'll like this... so, there was this one time." Lindsay laughed as she thought about the memory. "He'd been working on this case where there was loads of gross 'food'. Like we're talking deep fried spiders, mealworms…. the whole nine, people paid hundreds of dollars to eat it too!"

Lucy blanched at the thought. "Spiders?! Gross!"

"You know what, they're not as bad as you think."

"Mom," Lucy slammed her hands on the table. "Oh my god Mom, you _didn't_!" At Lindsay's smirk, Lucy held her head in her hands "oh my god; you _did_!"

"Hey, he put a bet on with Mac that I wouldn't! Proved him wrong." Lindsay paused. "He should have known better. Even back then he knew me well enough to know I'd do it. I don't know what he was thinking."

Lucy slowly shook her head. "That makes me feel sick."

"It's just protein!"

"Whatever." Lucy grimaced. "If Zack ever tried to make me eat a spider I'd be takin' Daddy up on his offer to hide his body!"

"You would not." Lindsay laughed. "I wouldn't let him."

"Spoil sport." Lucy stuck her tongue out. "Alright maybe I wouldn't be geez, Mom. Weren't there other ways to impress Daddy? You gotta eat spiders and sh-stuff?"

Lindaay stared at her daughter pointedly at the curse word that nearly slipped from her lips. "He'd teased me incessantly, I had to give as good as I got. Couldn't let him get away with it, could I!"

"I suppose." Lucy laughed. "what was the most annoying thing he used to do?"

"Honestly? It was probably him calling me Montana all the time."

"But you like that, don't you?"

"Now I do." Lindsay laughed. "But when I first moved to New York, I hated it."

"That's so funny." Lucy giggled "If only you knew!"

"Yeah," Lindsay nodded thoughtfully. "So uh, listen… i want to talk to you about something."

Lucy sipped her hot chocolate, "Sure."

"So, Lydia told me something the other day and I wanted to ask you about it."

"Am i in trouble?"

"What? No… no honey, no." Lindsay took her daughter's hands. "No you're not in trouble."

"Okay…" Lucy licked her lips.

Lindsay took a deep breath. "Okay, so uh, you know when Ben took a break from baseball? Lydia told me you and Ben had a…. disagreement?"

"She told you; didn't she?"

"Told me what?" Lindsay asked.

"She told you about me shoutin' at Ben, didn't she? How I told him to stop actin' out? Ugh, I knew she'd tell you! She's such a blabbermouth. I was only tryin' to help!"

Lindsay chewed her lip, her daughter was slipping quickly into her New York twang. She was clearly flustered. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Lucy…" Lindsay pressed.

"How much did she tell you?" Lucy asked.

"Well I know enough... you tried bribing her with ice cream and then you didn't deliver the goods." Lindsay paused. Shaking her head. "Rookie mistake, honey."

"So she told you everything then?"

"I'm guessing so…" Lindsay paused. "Honey, if you were so scared, why didn't you say anything to us? We would have been able to reassure you."

"I didn't want to put the idea out there. I thought if I said it, it might happen and then what?" She sighed heavily.

"Did you honestly feel like Daddy and I were going to get a divorce?"

"No!" Lucy answered instantly. She then started to falter. "Well maybe; I mean… Mom it came out of _nowhere_. One minute everything was fine and then the next you guys were screamin' at each other, for days. Every time you saw each other, it's like you couldn't help it. It was like you hated each other. I didn't know what to think." She paused. "I hoped not but I did start to wonder and it scared me. The thought of it all. I just thought if I could get Ben to stop skippin' class it'd make everything okay again."

Lindsay took a moment to look at her daughter. Lucy was wise beyond her years. She was mature, conscientious and loving. But right now? Lindsay realised that her little girl still had that little girl in her.

"Honey, you _know_ how much Daddy and I love each other. Just because we were angry and upset doesn't mean it's an instant divorce."

Lucy shrugged. "If I'm being rational, I know that. I just, you've never ever argued like that before. Daddy slept on the couch Mommy. The only time that's ever happened was when you were sick that time and he didn't wanna catch it 'cus he had to look after us."

"I know." Lindsay nodded. "But Lucy, it's not unhealthy to fight. Sometimes you've got to get it out and then it's done:" Lindsay took her daughter's hand. "We aren't going anywhere okay? We wouldn't make any decisions like that before we were absolutely positive it was right for all of us. All of you guys. We've got three of you to think about, don't we? It's not just Daddy and I. It hasn't been _just_ Daddy and I for a _long_ time. We wouldn't do that to you."

"But we wouldn't want you to just stay together for us."

"And we wouldn't." Lindsay reassured her daughter. "But we'd also make sure it was the right decision. Neither of us would do anything to hurt you guys, okay? Please promise me that if you're worried about things a seventeen year old shouldn't be worrying about again, you tell me or daddy or both of us. Lucy, you don't have to hold everything in. You know I'm here. Use me, talk to me. I've never given you a reason not to trust me so don't start keeping things from me now."

"I just… I love you guys so much and I know that everything you guys are is because you worked so hard to give us a family. To give _me_ a family. Right? I mean, he asked you to marry him and you said no because you wanted it to be right for me!"

"Do you know literally everything about me and Daddy?" Lindsay laughed, despite their topic of conversation.

Lucy blushed. "I just know how good we've got it." She said softly. "Ben, Lydia and I. We're lucky. I guess I want to keep it for as long as I can. You know? Zack's dad moved out unexpectedly last year. My friend, Olivia… her parents separated a couple of years ago and now her dad's got a new girlfriend and I just… I'm selfish and want you guys to stay together forever."

"Listen; your Daddy and I… we're not going anywhere. We love each other. Nothing has changed. We've always been a well oiled machine, me and him. One doesn't work without the other. Even when I wanted to throw his butt to the curb, I couldn't do it." Lucy giggled at her mother's words. "If anything changes you will be the first to know but you can get all of those ideas out of your mind, okay? I promise."

Lucy let out a relieved sigh. She nodded and cast her eyes to the table.

"So, what else do you wanna know?" Lindsay asked softly, changing the conversation slightly.

"Tell me the story about when you told Mac about me."

"Alright." Lindsay smiled. "So, it was after our shift and we'd been walking towards Mac's office. Daddy was all upset because I'd told him no when he'd asked me to marry him and I had to make sure he knew that I did want to, just when it was right-"

Lucy's eyes absorbed her mother as she animatedly recalled the tale of when she'd told him they should take baby steps and how she didn't want to push him down the aisle. If Lucy was totally honest, she knew this story inside out. She could probably tell it better than her mother; she missed bits out. But as she listened to her Mom's soothing voice, she felt the knot in the pit of her stomach finally untie itself and disappear. Lucy Messer made a mental note to make sure she told her Mom more. Her mom had this magical way of making everything seem a thousand times better.

She smiled at her mother and let out a long sigh. When they were handing out parents, she'd definitely gotten the best ones.

——————-

"Meh, I don't think it's the best one you've tried on."

"You just say that because Daddy will say it's too short."

"True." Lindsay laughed. They'd somehow found themselves at the mall, wandering around the stores aimlessly, enjoying the fact they had no plan or list of things to buy. Nor did they have the tiniest Messer asking questions and demanding food.

"What do you think Lydia's doing?" Lucy called from the changing room.

"Probably driving Taylor's Mom crazy." Lindsay laughed. "I think we'll have to invite Taylor... repay the favour."

Lucy shot her head out of the changing room. "Mom no, not the both of them!"

"It's only fair." Lindsay shrugged.

"I'll stay at Olivia's that night. Or I'll go to Grandma's…"

"I'll come too." Lindsay chuckled. "What's next!?"

Lucy disappeared into the fitting room and Lindsay could hear the scraping of the coat hangers as she rifled through the clothes she'd chosen. "Uh, might try those shorts." Lucy shoved them through the curtain so Lindsay could see them.

"I liked them. Try them with the white shirt." Lindsay nodded. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulled it out. Danny.

_How'd it go with Lucy?_

Lindsay smiled. When he'd gotten home with Ben on the night of his first baseball game back on the team. she'd told him what their littlest girl had told her in the car about their biggest girl. He'd wanted to ask Lucy about it right away but Lindsay knew that things needed to settle down first. If they'd gone in and asked Lucy that night; she'd instantly question why and would panic. She'd somehow convince herself it was true and Lindsay didn't want that. So she'd managed to persuade Danny to let her approach it differently. He'd trusted her and let her run with it.

_Good_, she began typing out her reply. As _we thought. She'd worked herself up about it. She didn't wanna talk about it to begin with but we got there in the end: Was because you'd been sleeping on the couch I think. Plus all the yelling. Scared her a lot. We'll have to remember that for next time._

She pressed send and the response came immediately.

_Next time?!?!_

She laughed. _You know what I mean!_

She waited a few moments before the next message filtered through. _What are you guys doing?_

Lindsay's fingers flew over her iPhone's keyboard. _Shopping. Currently trying clothes on. She wants a dress… you'd hate it._

His response was immediate. _No to everything short. I mean it Montana, don't let her talk you into it like she did last time. My blood pressure won't survive it. Zack stares at her enough as it is. Much less than me removing the kid's eyes… we gotta do what we gotta do._

She rolled her eyes: _lighten up. She's a kid! She __wants the cute outfits. Danny, it is really cute on her. You'd probably like it. _

She could sense Danny's response.

_Over my dead body._

A giggle bubbled out of Lindsay: _that can be arranged…_

Lucy emerged from the fitting room. At the sight of the smile on her mother's face and the phone in her hand; Lucy rolled her eyes. "Tell him I said hi."

"What?" Lindsay laughed, glancing up at her daughter.

"You." Lucy shook her head a she flicked her hair out from inside the shirt she was trying on. "And Daddy. Texting. You two are goofballs."

"That's cute," Lindsay said, ignoring her daughter's comment.

"What's he got to say for himself?" Lucy asked as she turned and looked over her shoulder so that she could see the back of the shirt and shorts.

"Nothing. Just asked us what we were doing."

"And how I was…"

"That too." Lindsay smiled. "He was worried." She said softly. "You're his baby."

"I know," she smiled. "I like these."

"Me too. Put them on the yes pile."

Lucy smiled. She closed the distance between herself and her mom and pulled Lindsay into hug.

"I love you." She said. "I'm glad we got to hang out together today."

"Me too, honey." Lindsay whispered, pressing a kiss to her daughter's temple. "Me too."

——————-

Lucy Messer looked over her shoulder as she pulled the hatch to the attic down. She pulled the ladder down and set it on the carpet of the hallway as quietly as she could. She wasn't entirely sure why she was being so secretive as, if her mom came out into the hallway, there would be no secret as to what was going on anyway. It was just… the conversation with her mom from earlier had peaked her interest.

There was so much she knew about her parents. She knew the obvious things like, her mom was from Montana. Her dad was from Staten Island. She knew Her mom had played tennis in school and her dad, baseball. She knew her dad had failed calculus and her mom hated trigonometry. She knew her mom used to be a cheerleader and that her dad loved the fact she'd been a cheerleader. She knew she used to have an uncle called Louie who'd died before she was born. She knew her mom had two brothers and a sister, all of which were just as amazing and as kind as her mom. She knew that her Grandma in Montana had died from cancer when she six. She knew that her mom's friends had died in a diner when she was sixteen. She knew that she was named after her mom's best friend, Lucy.

She knew that her godfather would move mountains for her and her family. She knew that her uncle Flack was one of her most favourite people in the world, aside from her parents and sibiings. She knew she found Adam Ross absolutely hilarious.

She knew that her mom loved being a mom. She knew that she could go to her mom with anything and she'd fix it. She knew that her mom was her safe place. Her rock. Sure, she adored her daddy; she loved him more than anything. But her mom? Her mom was everything.

They'd always joked that they thought she'd be a daddy's girl. And she was to an extent… but she was also a bit mommy's girl at heart.

She quickly climbed up the rickety ladder and disappeared into the attic. Turning the light on, she muffled her cough caused by the dust she was dislodging. Her eyes scanned for what she was looking for. She kicked a couple of boxes out of the way. Baby clothes; toys, pictures. She made her way further into the attic and smiled when she saw it.

_DO NOT TOSS: MESSER HEIRLOOMS ._

She rolled her eyes at her dad's bluntness. Short and to the point. And completely ridiculous! She sat down and pulled the box towards her. She opened it up and took in the contents. On the top was the memorial for the kid she'd been asking her mom about earlier. She cast it to the side as she kept digging. All she wanted was a photo… she wasn't even sure if it'd exist but she figured this would be the box to find it in. She just wanted one from when they were younger.

She kept digging and giggled at some of the stuff her parents had saved. _Heirlooms_? For goodness sake! Movie stubs, dinner receipts… a receipt for doughnuts?! All sorts of crap! She smiled as she came across an incredibly faded plane ticket stub marked some date in February, 2007. She knew what _that_ was. It was when her dad had flown out to Montana for the trial her mom was testifying in. She set it down and rubbed her thumb over it. Who knew a faded piece of paper could mean so much?

She kept digging. Broadway playbills for Wicked, a Statue of Liberty hat… _she made a mental note to ask her parents about that one_… she reached for the green ribbon entangled in something. As she pulled she realised how heavy it was. She held it up in front of her and narrowed her eyes as she tried to work out what it was. She blew the dust off of it and brushed it down to try and get a better clue of what it was. It was some type of medal: maybe one from a running race? Although she didn't think her parents were avid runners...

Pulling out her phone, she did a quick google search.

A combat cross? Lucy furrowed her brow. What on earth was one of these doing in a box filled with her mom and dad's sentimental stuff?

—————-

"Hey mommy!"

"Lydia!" Lindsay cried as she held the phone to her ear. "Hi honey; are you having fun?"

"Yeah-ha." Lydia's bright voice rang down the phone. "I just call to say hi and I love you."

"Aw honey, I love you too. We miss you. Are you being a good girl?"

"Uh-huh!" She could tell that her daughter was nodding. "Taylor's mommy said I being very good."

"Good girl, Lydia. Do you want to talk to daddy?"

"Uh, okies!"

Lindsay handed the phone to her husband, thrilled that she'd been able to talk to her little girl. She listened intently as Danny quizzed their baby about how much fun she'd had, what she'd eaten, what they'd done. Lindsay desperately wished she could have been there with her little girl but a part of her was glad. Glad that she'd found a friend. As hard as it was for her to accept she was growing up, these kinds of conversations... hearing her little girl so happy and excited and clearly spoilt was worth all of her pain.

"She wants to talk to you." Danny interrupter her thoughts, handing Lindsay's cell back to her.

"Hey honey, so tell me about your teddy you bought-"

——————

_SEPTEMBER 24th, 2010_

_HERO COP CELEBRATED. SAVES HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER FROM SCORNED KILLER._

_Detective Lindsay Messer was awarded the combat cross today as a result of her bravery, courage and for finally bringing an end to serial killer, Shane Casey's long string of murders. After a considerable manhunt that crossed numerous state lines and an escape from prison, we can now reveal that Casey had targeted Messer's husband as a result of a conviction; linked to Casey's brother that Detective Danny Messer had been involved in. It had emerged that Casey broke into the Messer's apartment and held their two year old daughter hostage for a time; until Detective Lindsay Messer of the NYPD crime lab used her department issued weapon to render Casey unable to harm their daughter and killing him instantly. Messer has been hailed a hero for finally ending this monster's reign on the city; Casey was previously convicted of multiple homicides, following a very gruesome pattern._

_Detective Messer and her family provided no comment._

_PICTURED: Detective Lindsay Messer, Detective Danny Messer and Detective Mac Taylor of the NYPD crime lab._

Lucy looked up from the newspaper article. Her mom would be livid at her choice of words but _what the fuck_?! Her eyes searched for answers to her thousands of questions. How did she not know about this? Her eyes scanned it again, desperate for more information.

Who was Shane Casey and why had he targeted her dad? Why had her mom killed him? Why the hell was she taken hostage?

Hostage. _Hostage_?! And what the hell was this combat cross for? And why was it in a random box all dusty and discarded?

Lucy Messer felt her head pounding. Just as she rubbed her temples, trying to alleviate some of the pressure, she heard the ladder creaking, announcing someone heading into the attic.

Up popped her Dad's head with a flashlight. She glanced at him before turning back to the article. He took one look at her and sighed heavily. "Linds! I found her!" He shouted behind him, down the ladder. He climbed into the attic and sat next to his daughter.

She looked at him, tears in her eyes. He licked his lips and wrapped his arm around her. She tried to shrug him off but he stared at her pointedly and she relaxed against him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She whispered. "How could you not tell me?" She held out the paper for him to see.

Danny sighed heavily and took the paper from her, setting it down next to him. He took the combat cross from her lap and held it through his fingers. He let it dangle for a minute before placing it down on his thigh. He sighed again before pressing a kiss to his daughter's temple.

"You're a smart kid." He began. "So I ain't gonna lie to you. I'm not gonna pretend I have the perfect answer or tell you what I think you wanna hear." He paused. "Luce, how could we _ever_ find a way to tell you about this, huh?" He quizzed her. "Tell me what we shoulda done, because neither of us knew."

"I don't know… maybe one of our few moments of silence at the dinner table, you could have slipped it in!"

"Oh yeah; sure kiddo I can see it now., 'Can you pass the broccoli, thanks. So, listen, this one time when you were two, some murderer broke into our apartment and-" it wasn't lost on Lucy that her dad had decided against finishing his sentence. "Yeah, like that was gonna happen."

"What and this is better?" She reached across him and grabbed the paper. She held it up and waved it at him. "Me finding this was a better way?"

"What do ya wanna know?" Danny said, shifting in his position.

"I don't know!" She cried. "Something? Anything? Everything?" She could feel the tears brimming in her eyes. "I just don't… I thought I knew everything about you guys."

"Alright." Danny nodded. "So me and your mom put this guy away for killin' some people who he felt had put his brother away. His brother killed a bartender. He didn't wanna believe it. When I arrested him I told him some home truths and he wasn't a fan."

Lucy nodded.

"So, he got someone to steal my badge, my dog tags and my wallet. He escaped from prison and went around usin' my cards and badge."

Lucy swallowed.

"Want me to carry on?"

She nodded silently.

"Alright, if you're sure..." Danny nodded, "so we'd taken you to Amagansett, in Long Island for our first ever vacation. Turns out this guy, Shane Casey was there too. Things came to a head an' we decided to come home, alright? That night; he broke into the apartment and I woke up. You were cryin' and he'd found his way to your room and had you." Danny paused. "You sure you wanna know?"

Despite the tears in her eyes, Lucy nodded adamantly.

"Alright," he sighed. "So, I got to your room and there he was, holdin' you. Your mom must have been a minute behind me. We always locked our pieces up at home but she'd kept hers in her nightstand. She loaded it and was there aiming for him. I talked her down and she lowered it. He made some comments and was wavin' a gun around and well... your mom shot him. She saved you and me that night." Danny paused. "It was a perfect shot."

Lucy's tears slipped down her cheek and Danny swiped them away with his thumb.

"She got this because of what she did." Danny explained; holding it in his hand and offering it to Lucy. "They don't give these to just anyone. It's a big honour. Uncle Mac shut down the entire lab for the ceremony. That's what that picture is," he pointed to the article. "Your mom's ceremony."

Lucy swiped at her tears. "Why is it in here if it's so important?"

"Because…" Danny paused. "Mommy didn't want it. She uh, she didn't like the fact she was gettin' a whole lot of attention for protectin' you and me. You know what she's like. She'll protect us until the cows come home."

"Moo." Lucy giggled.

Danny smiled at their little family inside joke. "Luce, we didn't want you to know because there are some things that we still want to protect you from. We love that you love us like you do. We love that you want to know everything about us… but we're still your mom and dad. We make decisions that we feel are right for you and I'm sorry you found out like this but I'm not sorry that we didn't tell you sooner. You don't need to know about this kinda stuff. We chose not to tell you to protect you."

Lucy looked down at the picture of her parents. As she looked up at her dad, she heard the ladder creaking again.

"Did I miss the memo?" Lindsay's voice sounded as she neared the opening of the attic. "A bit of a random spot for a Messer family meeting." As she ascended into the attic, her eyes widened at her daughter's tears, the box and the combat cross. She looked to Danny with questions in her eyes and he sighed.

"She knows." He said simply.

Lindsay nodded as she climbed into the attic and moved towards her husband and daughter. She sat on the other side of Lucy and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"I'm sorry you found out like this." She said softly. "I know you probably have a lot of questions."

Lucy nodded. "Daddy answered some of them."

"Want me to answer the rest?"

Lucy nodded again.

Danny took this as his cue to leave. He pressed a kiss to Lindsay's forehead and then did the same to his daughter as he left them in silence. Lucy's eyes were glued to the green ribbon she held in her hand.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her little voice finally broke the silence. "You had a perfect opportunity to tell me over our coffee today."

"Because you're my baby." Lindsay whispered.

Lucy sighed. "I'm just… confused."

"About what, honey?"

"Why us? Why Daddy?"

Lindsay shrugged. "I don't even think he'd have been able to answer that. He was a pretty… traumatised guy. The world was a scary place for him."

"He made it scarier by the sounds of it?" Lucy implored. "I just… i was a hostage?"

Lindsay glanced down at the paper. She read the article quickly and turned it upside down to the side of her. "Hostage? I don't know whether I'd use hostage. He was holding you." She explained. "Your Dad and I didn't like it. We gave him chances. He didn't take them. I needed to do something to stop him hurting you. Hurting us. So I did what I had to do. I had to protect you and I wasn't going to let anything happen to you. Or your Dad. Simple." Lindsay paused. "I'd do it any day of the week for any of you guys." She said with confidence. "I'd do it a hundred times if it kept you guys safe."

Lucy laid her head on her mother's shoulder and sighed. "Why is it in this box? It's all dusty and dirty."

"What is?"

"The combat cross." Lucy held it up.

Lindsay sighed. "It's because of your dad that we even have that."

"Why?"

Lindsay shrugged. "I'd gotten mad and thrown it in the trash. Dsddy did some diggin' and got it back for me. For you."

"You threw it away?"

Lindsay nodded.

"Why?" Lucy breathed.

"I didn't want it." Lindsay said simply. "I had you and your daddy and that was far better than any medal. I didn't need a medal to tell me I'd done the right thing. I knew I'd done the right thing."

"What changed? Why did you keep it?" "

Lindsay smiled. "Something your dad said."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Lindsay nodded. "He said I should keep it… for the life I saved, not the life I'd taken."

"For me." Lucy whispered. Lindsay nodded

"I'm sorry you found out about it like this." Lindsay said softly. "But Lucy I have to ask...why were you up here in the first place?"

"I wanted an old picture of you and Daddy. One I hadn't seen before." She glanced to the newspaper . "I guess I found one." She said as she picked it up. She looked at the picture with squinted eyes and smiled. "Mom, you look so young."

"Well, you were two when it was taken...you're not exactly two anymore, are you!"

Lucy smiled. "And daddy." She added. "He was so young here too. He hasn't changed much though." She said. "In fact he hasn't changed at all."

Lindsay smirked. "That bald patch of his has slowly gotten bigger… and he had a few more laughter lines… but don't tell him I said that."

"And grey hairs!" Lucy giggled. "Mom, why did you keep it in the end? Why didn't you toss this out?"

Lindsay shrugged. "A part of me wanted you to have it. Plus, your dad made me look at it in a different light. It made it easier to keep hold of it when I thought of it as something to mark the life I'd saved." Lindsay said softly.

Lucy nodded contemplatively and began loading things back into the box. Lindsay helped her silently and noted how Lucy kept hold of the combat cross. Lucy shut the box and dangled the ribbon through her fingers, looking at it as it dangled.

"Can I-?"

Lindsay nodded. "Of course."

——————-

A couple of hours had passed since Danny and Lindsay had found Lucy in the attic. Neither of them really knew what to say to one another about it. What was there to say that hadn't already been said?

It had been extremely quiet in the Messer household. Lydia of course was still st Taylor's. Ben had been at practice and Lucy had been in her room where they had felt it was best to let her take in everything.

Danny had no doubt that his daughter was currently knee deep in online articles from 2010, finding as much information as she possibly could. Ne wasn't keen on the idea of it all but Lindsay had made him accept it. He'd joked years ago with her that he hated the fact that Lucy was so capable when it came to technology. It was that damn pre-school Lindsay had insisted on sending her to… he was sure of it!

"I'm gonna go check on her." Lindsay said, breaking his thoughts. "It's probably time for her to go to sleep anyway."

"I could say the same for us." He said, yawning. As he glanced at his watch he laughed. "Damn, ten-thirty. When did we get so boring. Saturday night and we're fixing on going to bed."

"I'd take this life over any other." Lindsay said before pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I'd choose this life every time."

He watched her get up and head to their daughter's bedroom. He had to agree with her. He'd take this life over anything else the world had to offer. Because in their house, their home, they had everything they needed.

Each other.

———————

Lindsay knocked softly on the door and let herself into the dimly lit bedroom of her biggest little girl. Lucy was sat on her bed, her knees propping up her laptop. The quiet sounds of her current Spotify playlist was filling the silence. Lindsay sat on the edge of the bed and smiled st her daughter. "Hey," She said.

"Hey."

"So… how are you feeling?"

"Fine." Lucy shrugged. Lindsay spotted the combat cross on the comforter next to her daughter. "I don't honestly know why I was so surprised about it." She said.

"Yeah?" Lindsay said, "how come?"

"I don't know..: I guess…" Lucy paused as she searched for the right words. "I knew we were a close family and never really questioned it. I guess this just gives it a bit of context. Makes me understand why a little bit better."

Lindsay nodded.

"I bet daddy was proud of you." Lucy said softly. "It was pretty brave what you did. I don't think I would have been as brave as you."

"Oh you would." Lindsay smiled at her daughter. "Trust me, just wait until you have your own children. You'll see just how brave you can be."

Lucy nodded.

"He called me his hero." Lindsay said, "your Dad. It was one of those moments where. I don't know, I guess it's something you remember. I've never really been anyone's hero before."

Lindsay trailed off. She silently took the laptop from her daughter and closed the lid. She placed it on Lucy's desk before pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead. "It's been a long day." She said. "Try get a good nights sleep and we'll all go out for breakfast tomorrow, okay?"

Lucy nodded.

"Goodnight; love you honey."

"Love you more." Lucy replied. "Night."

Lindsay stood and headed for the door. Just as she was about to switch off Lucy's lamp: she heard Lucy's tiny voice.."Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Just so you know, you're my hero too."

Lindsay closed the door softly and leant against the wood. Letting out a breath, Lindsay tried to keep her composure. Hearing those words from her daughter's mouth made her head feel a little fuzzy. She adored her daughter. Loved her to death. She loved all of her kids more than anything in the world. She didn't have a favourite- contrary to what Ben often protested. She loved them all fiercely. She'd die for them. She'd kill for them. She do _anything_ for them.

Between her and Danny she felt they did a pretty good job. Their kids had sensible heads on their shoulders. They understood hard work, responsibility and respect. She knew they were special, she also knew she was probably biased... but all the same, she knew that she'd been sent her kids for a reason. They made her a better person. They made Danny a better person. They made her and Danny complete. They brought something out in her that she never knew existed.

She knew she was blessed with the children she and Danny had. Three beautiful, perfect blessings.

Three blessings she'd never, ever take for granted.

———————

**A/N: and that's another story complete! Was quite the monster story in the end. I think it stemmed from me rewatching one of the most glorious DL episodes, 7x01, Epilogue and it spiralled into a million other things. It was almost like a game to see how many DL references I could get in! It's the small things that amuse me! **

**Hope you enjoyed it! Any thoughts you might have are always gratefully received. Thanks for reading! **


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